Harrison Township Administrator Dennis Chambers provided updates at a committee meeting on Oct. 21 regarding a number of public property projects underway in the township, among them emergency access for Swamp Road.
Work on that project began the day after the meeting; the township was waiting on equipment needed to cut the road.
“It’s going to be a lot of back filling,” said Chambers. “So far, we’ve gotten all the materials to backfill the road for free, between the car wash, for the base material, and the filter from the Orchard View project. That’s a huge plus, because it’s (Swamp) a long road. If we had to purchase it, it would have been pricey.”
The dry weather, according to Chambers, means fewer materials will be needed. The project is expected to last about a week.
Swamp Road has qualified for repair since it collapsed in March as a result of clogged piping beneath it, leading to a sinkhole and flooding. There had previously been only one way in and out of the street, so residents were unable to leave their homes when the collapse occurred.
The new water line on the street has been finished, and the emergency access project is near completion.
Another project discussed at the meeting was the restoration of Williamson Lane. Its final coating of pavement was placed on Oct. 18.
“They’re going to come out with a small milling machine to extend the pavement by about 6 feet up to the county intersection,” explained Township Engineer Dennis McNulty. “We’ll be dealing with that the next couple of weeks as well. They’ll paint the line striping and place the pavement reflectors, and we’ll be getting that part of the project finished up.”
There will also be new signage placed, along with new driveway brims for Williamson Lane residents.
“The project went pretty well and fairly quickly,” Chambers said. “It was a very dusty project, because we’ve had no rain for like three months. There were a lot of complaints about the dust, and they did their best to control it, but it just was what it was. But so far the final product, I’m pretty happy with it.”
The next Harrison Township committee meeting is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.
